69901 - Pan-European Security

Learning outcomes

Students are expected to learn the evolution of security dynamics in the pan-European space, particularly since the end of the Cold War. To achieve this aim the students will learn some of the main theoretical and conceptual tools necessary to study the security governance of the area; they will explore the characteristics and evolution of the main security organizations in the macro.-region (EU, NATO, OSCE, CSTO, SCO); and they will discuss the relationship among the main powers in the area (particularly, the EU, Russia and China) in a set of relevant dossier and crises.

Course contents

The course is organized in lectures (first parte of the course) and seminars (second part), as detailed in the following program. Lectures aim to introduce students to the core tenets of the discipline. Seminars aim to provide occasions for in-depth discussions of class materials and exercises. For the seminar section of the course, students will be divided in two groups. Students are required to carefully read the assigned material before the session and actively participate through presentations and debates.

 

 

Readings/Bibliography

THEMES, COMPULSORY READING AND GUIDING QUESTIONS

 

PART 1 – LECTURES

1. What is security? (26 February)

Guiding questions:

• What does “security” mean?
• How has the concept evolved?
• How have security studies evolved?

Reading:

Paul D. Williams, “Introduction”, in Security studies: an introduction / edited by Paul D. Williams and Matt McDonald. - 3. Ed London ; New York : Routledge, 2023 [available here (under preview book) https://www.routledge.com/Security-Studies-An-Introduction/Williams-McDonald/p/book/9781032162737]

Frank Gardner, Security Correspondent, BBC News, “Five takeaways from the Munich Security Conference”, 16.02.2025, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx242lw21jwo

 

Security in the Pan-European Space (27 February)

Guiding questions:

• How has European security evolved?
• What are the main European security actors?

Reading/watching:

David J. Galbreath, Jocelyn Mawdsley, Laura Chappell (eds) Contemporary European Security, Routledge 2019, Chapters 1, 2.

Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth press conference in Brussels on his visit to NATO, 12/02/2025: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlt9G5XhzuA

 

IR Grand Theories and Security Studies (5 March)

Guiding questions:

• What are the main features of a realist approach to security?
• What are the main differences between different realist approaches to security?
• What are the main features of a liberal approach to security?
• What are the main differences between different liberal approaches to security?
• What are the main features of a constructivist approach to security?

Reading:

Paul D. Williams and Matt McDonald (eds) Security studies: an introduction - 3. Ed London ; New York : Routledge, 2018; Chapters “Realism”, “Liberalism”, Constructivism [previous book edition in the course material]

David J. Galbreath, Jocelyn Mawdsley, Laura Chappell (eds) Contemporary European Security, Routledge 2019, Chapter 3.

The Governance of Securit(ization) (6 March)

Guiding questions:

• What does security governance mean?
• How does securitization work?
• What are the main differences between different constructivist approaches to security?
• What are the main features of a critical approach to security?
• What are the main differences between different critical approaches to security?

Reading:

Mark Webber , “Security Governance”, in James Sperling (ed) Handbook of Governance and Security, Edward Elgar, Northampton USA, 2014, pp. 17-40. [course material]

Stępka M. (2022) The Copenhagen School and Beyond. A Closer Look at Securitisation Theory. In: Identifying Security Logics in the EU Policy Discourse. IMISCOE Research Series. Springer, Cham. Available online: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93035-6_2

 

The EU and European security 1 (12 March)

Guiding questions:

• How has the EU integration process shaped European security?
• How has the historical legacy influenced the EU’s security profile?
• How has the EU’s foreign and security policy evolved?

Reading:

Keukeleire, S. & T. Delreux, The Foreign Policy of the European Union, 3rd edition, Bloomsbury, 2022, Chapter 1. [Course material]

David J. Galbreath, Jocelyn Mawdsley, Laura Chappell (eds) Contemporary European Security, Routledge 2019, Chapters 6 and 7.

[non compulsory background reading on, respectively, institutions and policies of the EU: Keukeleire, S. & T. Delreux, Chapters 2, 3 and 4]

 

The EU and European security 2 (19 March)

Guiding questions:

• Is there an EU’s Grand Strategy?
• How has the EU’s strategy evolved in the internal and external domains?

Reading:

S. Economides and J. Sperling, EU Security Strategies. Extending the EU system of Security Governance, Routledge, 2018, chapters 1 (Sperling) and 7 (Cottey) [course material]

 

The EU and European security 3 (20 March)

Guiding questions:

• What is EU’s Strategic Sovereignty
• How can it be accomplished? With which problems?

Reading:

EU’S Strategic Compass: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/03/21/a-strategic-compass-for-a-stronger-eu-security-and-defence-in-the-next-decade/

Daniel Fiott, Strategic autonomy: towards ‘European sovereignty’ in defence? EUISS Brief Issue 2018 - https://www.iss.europa.eu/sites/default/files/EUISSFiles/Brief%2012__Strategic%20Autonomy.pdf

European Parliament, Briefing EU Strategic Autonomy - https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2022/733589/EPRS_BRI(2022)733589_EN.pdf

 

NATO and its post-Cold War transformation 1 (26 March)

Guiding Questions

• How has NATO’s evolved?
• What have been NATO’s role during the Cold War and afterwards?

Reading:

The North Atlantic Treaty, Official Text, Washington D.C., April 4, 1949, http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/official_texts_17120.htm

James Sperling and Mark Webber , “Understanding NATO” in The Oxford Handbook of NATO, Oxford UP, 2025. Available in preview here: https://www.amazon.it/Oxford-Handbook-NATO-James-Sperling/dp/0198851197?asin=B0DW4BRXP7&revisionId=c3cbe67b&format=3&depth=1

Andrew Cottey, “NATO”, in James Sperling (ed) Handbook of Governance and Security, Edward Elgar, Northampton USA, 2014, pp. 638-655.

 

NATO and its post-Cold War transformation 2 (27 March)

Guiding Questions

• What are NATO’s core tasks?
• What are the main challenges before NATO?

Reading:

as previous class plus:

Moller, S. B. (2023). NATO at 75: The Perils of Empty Promises. Survival, 65(6), 91–118. – available on Ruffilli Proxy: https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.unibo.it/doi/full/10.1080/00396338.2023.2285606

 

Guest Lecture – Prof. James Sperling (Emeritus, Akron University) Is NATO a Liability for Europe?  (3 April hr 15-17)

 

Guest Lecture Dr Vlasta Zekulic (ACT)  Managing insecurity and finding unified way forward (5 April, hr 11-13)

 

PART 2 – SEMINARS

Group A - Wednesdays, Group B - Thursdays

 

The OSCE, Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (9, 10 April)

Guiding questions

• What are the main characteristics of the three organizations?
• What type of strengths and weaknesses they have?
• What do they tell us about Russia’s security policy

Reading

Yulia Nikitina, “Russia's Regionalism Projects in Eurasia” in Mai'a Cross, ‎Ireneusz Pawel Karolewski, European-Russian Power Relations in Turbulent Times, Ann Arbour University of Michigan Press, 2021. available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3998/mpub.10202357.11?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

D.J. Galbreath (2019), “The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe”, in David J. Galbreath, Jocelyn Mawdsley, Laura Chappell (eds) Contemporary European Security, Routledge 2019, Chapter 5.

At a glance:

SCO Factsheet: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2015/564368/EPRS_BRI(2015)564368_EN.pdf

CSTO Factsheet: https://evnreport.com/understanding-the-region/fact-sheet-what-is-the-collective-security-treaty-organization/

OSCE Factsheet: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2021/696190/EPRS_BRI(2021)696190_EN.pdf

 

CLASS ACTIVITY

1. Class Discussion
2. Students’ presentations:

• The SCO, the CSTO organizations and the Ukraine war

• The OSCE and the War in Ukraine

 

PLENARY CLASS Guest Lecture: Dr Nicolò Fasola NATO-Russia relations, (16 April, hr 13-15)

 

NATO’s enlargement (23, 24 April)

Guiding questions:

• Have NATO enlargements been unavoidable?
• What have been the main consequences?
• What is the likelihood of future enlargements?

Reading:

All: https://mynbc15.com/news/nation-world/defense-secretary-pete-hegseth-visits-nato-to-discuss-increased-defense-spending-for-ukraine-department-of-defense-allies-brussels-germany-russia-invasion-weapons-military-assistance-russia-invasion-putin

Group 1. Zubok, V.M. (2023). Myths and Realities of Putinism and NATO Expansion. In: Goldgeier, J., Shifrinson, J.R.I. (eds) Evaluating NATO Enlargement. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi-org.ezproxy.unibo.it/10.1007/978-3-031-23364-7_5

Group 2. Poast, P., Chinchilla, A. (2023). Good for Democracy? Evidence from the 2004 NATO Expansion. In: Goldgeier, J., Shifrinson, J.R.I. (eds) Evaluating NATO Enlargement. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi-org.ezproxy.unibo.it/10.1007/978-3-031-23364-7_11

Group 3. von Hlatky, S., Fortmann, M. (2023). NATO Enlargement and the Failure of the Cooperative Security Mindset. In: Goldgeier, J., Shifrinson, J.R.I. (eds) Evaluating NATO Enlargement. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi-org.ezproxy.unibo.it/10.1007/978-3-031-23364-7_16

Group 4. Maria Mälksoo, NATO's new front: deterrence moves eastward, International Affairs, Volume 100, Issue 2, March 2024, Pages 531–547, https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiae008

Group 5. - Raik, K. (2025). NATO enlargement: is the door still open after Finland and Sweden? Defence Studies, 1–8. available through the proxy of Unibo: https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.unibo.it/doi/abs/10.1080/14702436.2025.2474071

 

CLASS ACTIVITY

Book club: The students, divided into four groups, will briefly present one of the compulsory reading to the class. Each group will present the assigned reading in a maximum of 10 minutes, rising also questions to be discussed.

 

Students' presentations of assigned topics (30 April) All class together.

EU AND NATO MISSIONS

EUROPEAN STATES DEFENSE POSTURE: Germany and Italy

EUROPEAN STATES DEFENSE POSTURE: France and the UK

EUROPEAN STATES DEFENSE POSTURE: Poland and the Baltics

 

Emotions and Ontological Security in the West-Russia relations (7 and 8 May)

Guiding questions

• What do we mean by ontological security?
• How is it related to the Ukraine war?
• Does the concept help us understanding the current West-Russia relations?

Reading

Dina Moulioukova & Roger E. Kanet (2021) Ontological security: a framework for the analysis of Russia’s view of the world, Global Affairs, 7:5, 831-853, DOI: 10.1080/23340460.2021.2000173 [https://doi.org/10.1080/23340460.2021.2000173]

Regina Heller (2024), "Important, not impotent: Russia and the exercise of agency through the war in Ukraine", Global Discourse, 14(1), 180-190 [course material].

 

CLASS ACTIVITY

Class brainstorming on the reading (see guiding questions below)

Students presentations: Case studies on ontological security at work on conflict and cooperation:

• The Balkans
• The Southern Caucasus
• Central Asia

 

 

Bordering Practices and collective securitization (14, 15 May)

Guiding Questions

• How can we conceptualize bordering practices?
• What is the relationship between borders and security?

Reading

Agnew, John. Ethics & Global Politics, suppl. Special issue: At the Border; Stockholm Vol. 1, Fasc. 4, (2008): 175. Available at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3402/egp.v1i4.1892

Giorgio Grappi & Sonia Lucarelli (2022) Bordering power Europe? The mobility-bordering nexus in and by the European Union, Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 30:2, 207-219 Available at: https://cris.unibo.it/bitstream/11585/874366/4/Bordering%20power%20Europe%3f%20The%20mobility-bordering%20nexus%20in%20and%20by%20the%20European%20Union.pdf

Raimondo Lanza, “New borders, new memes: Russia’s territorial expansion and “popular geopolitics”; Aspenia online, 18 February 2025, available at: https://aspeniaonline.it/new-borders-new-memes-russias-territorial-expansion-and-popular-geopolitics/

 

CLASS ACTIVITY:

Brainstorming in groups: Once the general themes have been discussed, the class is divided into groups that are given the task of discussing a question assigned at the time.

 

The European Security Order After Ukraine ( 21 May)

Students’ Roundtable

Assessment methods

NB: Class attendance in compulsory

Students will be evaluated on the basis of:
- class participation
- a final paper
- a final oral exam

 

The paper

- length: max 3.000 words included bibliography.

- the text should be scanned through the anti-plagiarism system of the university. 

- delivery: NAME the paper with your SURNAME and upload it here: https://app.compilatio.net/v5/document-submission/A2E-699-DD1

 

Rules for presentations:

- 10 minutes each

- power point circulated to the class, inclusive of bibliography

Oral exam: A final colloquium with the teacher on the entire programme, aimed at assessing the student’s preparation on the topics addressed and studied on the reading material.

 

Teaching tools

Lectures and seminars

Office hours

See the website of Sonia Lucarelli